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Adjectives
Definition
Adjectives are words that describe or modify another person or thing in the sentence.
The Articles — a, an, and the — are adjectives.






the tall professor
the lugubrious lieutenant
a solid commitment
a month's pay
a six-year-old child
the unhappiest, richest man
If a group of words containing a subject and verb acts as an adjective, it is called an
Adjective Clause. My sister, who is much older than I am, is an engineer. If an adjective
clause is stripped of its subject and verb, the resulting modifier becomes an Adjective
Phrase: He is the man who is keeping my family in the poorhouse.
Before getting into other usage considerations, one general note about the use — or
over-use — of adjectives: Adjectives are frail; don't ask them to do more work than
they should. Let your broad-shouldered verbs and nouns do the hard work of description.
Be particularly cautious in your use of adjectives that don't have much to say in the first
place: interesting, beautiful, lovely, exciting. It is your job as a writer to create beauty and
excitement and interest, and when you simply insist on its presence without showing it to
your reader — well, you're convincing no one.
Consider the uses of modifiers in this adjectivally rich paragraph from Thomas Wolfe's
Look Homeward, Angel. (Charles Scribner's, 1929, p. 69.) Adjectives are highlighted in this
color; participles, verb forms acting as adjectives, are highlighted in this blue. Some people
would argue that words that are part of a name — like "East India Tea House — are not
really adjectival and that possessive nouns — father's, farmer's — are not technically
adjectives, but we've included them in our analysis of Wolfe's text.
He remembered yet the East India Tea House at the Fair, the sandalwood, the turbans,
and the robes, the cool interior and the smell of India tea; and he had felt now the nostalgic
thrill of dew-wet mornings in Spring, the cherry scent, the cool clarion earth, the wet
loaminess of the garden, the pungent breakfast smells and the floating snow of blossoms.
He knew the inchoate sharp excitement of hot dandelions in young earth; in July, of
watermelons bedded in sweet hay, inside a farmer's covered wagon; of cantaloupe and
crated peaches; and the scent of orange rind, bitter-sweet, before a fire of coals. He knew
the good male smell of his father's sitting-room; of the smooth worn leather sofa, with the
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gaping horse-hair rent; of the blistered varnished wood upon the hearth; of the heated calfskin bindings; of the flat moist plug of apple tobacco, stuck with a red flag; of wood-smoke
and burnt leaves in October; of the brown tired autumn earth; of honey-suckle at night; of
warm nasturtiums, of a clean ruddy farmer who comes weekly with printed butter, eggs,
and milk; of fat limp underdone bacon and of coffee; of a bakery-oven in the wind; of large
deep-hued stringbeans smoking-hot and seasoned well with salt and butter; of a room of
old pine boards in which books and carpets have been stored, long closed; of Concord
grapes in their long white baskets.
An abundance of adjectives like this would be uncommon in contemporary prose. Whether
we have lost something or not is left up to you.
Position of Adjectives
Unlike Adverbs, which often seem capable of popping up almost anywhere in a
sentence, adjectives nearly always appear immediately before the noun or noun phrase that
they modify. Sometimes they appear in a string of adjectives, and when they do, they appear
in a set order according to category. (See Below.) When indefinite pronouns — such as
something, someone, anybody — are modified by an adjective, the adjective comes after the
pronoun:
Anyone capable of doing something horrible to someone nice should be punished.
Something wicked this way comes.
And there are certain adjectives that, in combination with certain words, are always
"postpositive" (coming after the thing they modify):
The president elect, heir apparent to the Glitzy fortune, lives in New York proper.
See, also, the note on a- adjectives, below, for the position of such words as "ablaze,
aloof, aghast."
Degrees of Adjectives
Adjectives can express degrees of modification:

Gladys is a rich woman, but Josie is richer than Gladys, and Sadie is the
richest woman in town.
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The degrees of comparison are known as the positive, the
comparative, and the superlative. (Actually, only the comparative
and superlative show degrees.) We use the comparative for
comparing two things and the superlative for comparing three or
more things. Notice that the word than frequently accompanies the
comparative and the word the precedes the superlative. The
inflected suffixes -er and -est suffice to form most comparatives and
superlatives, although we need -ier and -iest when a two-syllable
adjective ends in y (happier and happiest); otherwise we use
Click more
on the "scary bear" to read and
and most when an adjective has more than one syllable. hear George Newall's "Unpack Your
Adjectives" (from Scholastic Rock,
1975).
Schoolhouse
Rock®
and
its
characters and other elements are
trademarks and service marks of
American Broadcasting Companies,
Inc. Used with permission.
PositiveComparative
Superlative
rich
richest
richer
lovely lovelier
loveliest
beautiful
more beautiful
most beautiful
Certain adjectives have irregular forms in the comparative and superlative degrees:
Irregular Comparative and Superlative Forms
good
better
best
bad
worse
worst
little
less
least
much
many
some
more
most
far
further
furthest
Be careful not to form comparatives or superlatives of adjectives which already
express an extreme of comparison — unique, for instance — although it probably is
possible to form comparative forms of most adjectives: something can be more perfect, and
someone can have a fuller figure. People who argue that one woman cannot be more
pregnant than another have never been nine-months pregnant with twins.
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Grammar's Response
According to Bryan Garner, "complete" is one of those adjectives that does not admit
of comparative degrees. We could say, however, "more nearly complete." I am sure that I
have not been consistent in my application of this principle in the Guide (I can hear myself,
now, saying something like "less adequate" or "more preferable" or "less fatal"). Other
adjectives that Garner would include in this list are as follows:
absolute
impossible
principal
adequate
inevitable
stationary
chief irrevocable
sufficient
complete
main
unanimous
devoid
manifestunavoidable
entireminor unbroken
fatal paramount
unique
final perpetual
universal
ideal preferable
whole
From The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Styleby Bryan Garner. Copyright
1995 by Bryan A. Garner. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc., www.oup-usa.org,
and used with the gracious consent of Oxford University Press.
Be careful, also, not to use more along with a comparative adjective formed with -er
nor to use most along with a superlative adjective formed with -est (e.g., do not write that
something is more heavier or most heaviest).
The as — as construction is used to create a comparison expressing equality:


He is as foolish as he is large.
She is as bright as her mother.
Premodifiers with Degrees of Adjectives
Both adverbs and adjectives in their comparative and superlative forms can be
accompanied by premodifiers, single words and phrases, that intensify the degree.
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
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We were a lot more careful this time.
He works a lot less carefully than the other jeweler in town.
We like his work so much better.
You'll get your watch back all the faster.
The same process can be used to downplay the degree:
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The weather this week has been somewhat better.
He approaches his schoolwork a little less industriously than his brother does.
And sometimes a set phrase, usually an informal noun phrase, is used for this purpose:
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He arrived a whole lot sooner than we expected.
That's a heck of a lot better.
If the intensifier very accompanies the superlative, a determiner is also required:
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She is wearing her very finest outfit for the interview.
They're doing the very best they can.
Occasionally, the comparative or superlative form appears with a determiner and the
thing being modified is understood:
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

Of all the wines produced in Connecticut, I like this one the most.
The quicker you finish this project, the better.
Of the two brothers, he is by far the faster.
Authority for this section: A University Grammar of English by Randolph Quirk and Sidney Greenbaum.
Longman Group: Essex, England. 1993. Used with permission.
Less versus Fewer
When making a comparison between quantities we often have to make a choice
between the words fewer and less. Generally, when we're talking about countable
things, we use the word fewer; when we're talking about measurable quantities that
we cannot count, we use the word less. "She had fewer chores, but she also had less
energy." The managers at our local Stop & Shop seem to have mastered this:
they've changed the signs at the so-called express lanes from "Twelve Items or
Less" to "Twelve Items or Fewer." Whether that's an actual improvement, we'll
leave up to you.
We do, however, definitely use less when referring to statistical or numerical
expressions:
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
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It's less than twenty miles to Dallas.
He's less than six feet tall.
Your essay should be a thousand words or less.
We spent less than forty dollars on our trip.
The town spent less than four percent of its budget on snow removal.
In these situations, it's possible to regard the quantities as sums of countable
measures.
Taller than I / me ??
When making a comparison with "than" do we end with a subject form or object
form, "taller than I/she" or "taller than me/her." The correct response is "taller than
I/she." We are looking for the subject form: "He is taller than I am/she is tall."
(Except we leave out the verb in the second clause, "am" or "is.") Some good
writers, however, will argue that the word "than" should be allowed to function as a
preposition. If we can say "He is tall like me/her," then (if "than" could be
prepositional like like) we should be able to say, "He is taller than me/her." It's an
interesting argument, but — for now, anyway — in formal, academic prose, use the
subject form in such comparisons.
We also want to be careful in a sentence such as "I like him better than
she/her." The "she" would mean that you like this person better than she likes him;
the "her" would mean that you like this male person better than you like that female
person. (To avoid ambiguity and the slippery use of than, we could write "I like
him better than she does" or "I like him better than I like her.")
More than / over ??
In the United States, we usually use "more than" in countable numerical
expressions meaning "in excess of" or "over." In England, there is no such
distinction. For instance, in the U.S., some editors would insist on "more than
40,000 traffic deaths in one year," whereas in the UK, "over 40,000 traffic deaths"
would be acceptable. Even in the U.S., however, you will commonly hear "over" in
numerical expressions of age, time, or height: "His sister is over forty; she's over
six feet tall. We've been waiting well over two hours for her."
The Order of Adjectives in a Series
It would take a linguistic philosopher to explain why we say "little brown house" and
not "brown little house" or why we say "red Italian sports car" and not "Italian red sports
car." The order in which adjectives in a series sort themselves out is perplexing for people
learning English as a second language. Most other languages dictate a similar order, but not
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necessarily the same order. It takes a lot of practice with a language before this order
becomes instinctive, because the order often seems quite arbitrary (if not downright
capricious). There is, however, a pattern. You will find many exceptions to the pattern in
the table below, but it is definitely important to learn the pattern of adjective order if it is
not part of what you naturally bring to the language.
The categories in the following table can be described as follows:
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
Determiners — articles and other limiters. See Determiners
Observation — postdeterminers and limiter adjectives (e.g., a real hero, a
perfect idiot) and adjectives subject to subjective measure (e.g., beautiful,
interesting)
Size and Shape — adjectives subject to objective measure (e.g., wealthy,
large, round)
Age — adjectives denoting age (e.g., young, old, new, ancient)
Color — adjectives denoting color (e.g., red, black, pale)
Origin — denominal adjectives denoting source of noun (e.g., French,
American, Canadian)
Material — denominal adjectives denoting what something is made of (e.g.,
woolen, metallic, wooden)
Qualifier — final limiter, often regarded as part of the noun (e.g., rocking
chair, hunting cabin, passenger car, book cover)
THE ROYAL ORDER OF ADJECTIVES
Determiner
Observation Physical DescriptionOrigin
Material
Qualifier
Noun
Size ShapeAge Color
a
beautiful
old
an
expensive
antique
four
gorgeous
longred
stemmed
her
short
our
big
those
that
old
dilapidated
delicious
mirror
silk
roses
hair
English
sheepdog
wooden
hat boxes
little
enormous young
touring
car
silver
black
square
several
some
Italian
hunting
cabin
American basketball
players
Thai
food
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This chart is probably too wide to print on a standard piece of paper. If you click HERE,
you will get a one-page duplicate of this chart, which you can print out on a regular piece
of paper.
It would be folly, of course, to run more than two or three (at the most) adjectives
together. Furthermore, when adjectives belong to the same class, they become what we call
coordinated adjectives, and you will want to put a comma between them: the inexpensive,
comfortable shoes. The rule for inserting the comma works this way: if you could have
inserted a conjunction — and or but — between the two adjectives, use a comma. We could
say these are "inexpensive but comfortable shoes," so we would use a comma between them
(when the "but" isn't there). When you have three coordinated adjectives, separate them all
with commas, but don't insert a comma between the last adjective and the noun (in spite of
the temptation to do so because you often pause there):
a popular, respected, and good looking student
See the section on Commas for additional help in punctuating coordinated adjectives.
Capitalizing Proper Adjectives
When an adjective owes its origins to a proper noun, it should probably be capitalized.
Thus we write about Christian music, French fries, the English Parliament, the Ming
Dynasty, a Faulknerian style, Jeffersonian democracy. Some periods of time have taken on
the status of proper adjectives: the Nixon era, a Renaissance/Romantic/Victorian poet (but a
contemporary novelist and medieval writer). Directional and seasonal adjectives are not
capitalized unless they're part of a title:
We took the northwest route during the spring thaw. We stayed there until the town's
annual Fall Festival of Small Appliances.
See the section on Capitalization for further help on this matter.
Collective Adjectives
When the definite article, the, is combined with an adjective describing a class or
group of people, the resulting phrase can act as a noun: the poor, the rich, the oppressed, the
homeless, the lonely, the unlettered, the unwashed, the gathered, the dear departed. The
difference between a Collective Noun (which is usually regarded as singular but which can
be plural in certain contexts) and a collective adjective is that the latter is always plural and
requires a plural verb:

The rural poor have been ignored by the media.
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
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
The rich of Connecticut are responsible.
The elderly are beginning to demand their rights.
The young at heart are always a joy to be around.
Adjectival Opposites
The opposite or the negative aspect of an adjective can be formed in a number of ways.
One way, of course, is to find an adjective to mean the opposite — an antonym. The
opposite of beautiful is ugly, the opposite of tall is short. A thesaurus can help you find an
appropriate opposite. Another way to form the opposite of an adjective is with a number of
prefixes. The opposite of fortunate is unfortunate, the opposite of prudent is imprudent, the
opposite of considerate is inconsiderate, the opposite of honorable is dishonorable, the
opposite of alcoholic is nonalcoholic, the opposite of being properly filed is misfiled. If you
are not sure of the spelling of adjectives modified in this way by prefixes (or which is the
appropriate prefix), you will have to consult a dictionary, as the rules for the selection of a
prefix are complex and too shifty to be trusted. The meaning itself can be tricky; for
instance, flammable and inflammable mean the same thing.
A third means for creating the opposite of an adjective is to combine it with less or
least to create a comparison which points in the opposite direction. Interesting shades of
meaning and tone become available with this usage. It is kinder to say that "This is the least
beautiful city in the state." than it is to say that "This is the ugliest city in the state." (It also
has a slightly different meaning.) A candidate for a job can still be worthy and yet be "less
worthy of consideration" than another candidate. It's probably not a good idea to use this
construction with an adjective that is already a negative: "He is less unlucky than his
brother," although that is not the same thing as saying he is luckier than his brother. Use the
comparative less when the comparison is between two things or people; use the superlative
least when the comparison is among many things or people.


My mother is less patient than my father.
Of all the new sitcoms, this is my least favorite show.
Some Adjectival Problem Children
Good versus Well
In both casual speech and formal writing, we frequently have to choose between the
adjective good and the adverb well. With most verbs, there is no contest: when
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modifying a verb, use the adverb.
He swims well.
He knows only too well who the murderer is.
However, when using a linking verb or a verb that has to do with the five human
senses, you want to use the adjective instead.
How are you? I'm feeling good, thank you.
After a bath, the baby smells so good.
Even after my careful paint job, this room doesn't look good.
Many careful writers, however, will use well after linking verbs relating to health,
and this is perfectly all right. In fact, to say that you are good or that you feel good
usually implies not only that you're OK physically but also that your spirits are
high.
"How are you?"
"I am well, thank you."
Bad versus Badly
When your cat died (assuming you loved your cat), did you feel bad or badly?
Applying the same rule that applies to good versus well, use the adjective form after
verbs that have to do with human feelings. You felt bad. If you said you felt badly,
it would mean that something was wrong with your faculties for feeling.
Other Adjectival Considerations
Review the section on Compound Nouns and Modifiers for the formation of
modifiers created when words are connected: a four-year-old child, a nineteenth-century
novel, an empty-headed fool.
Review the section on Possessives for a distinction between possessive forms and
"adjectival labels." (Do you belong to a Writers Club or a Writers' Club?)
Adjectives that are really Participles, verb forms with -ing and -ed endings, can be
troublesome for some students. It is one thing to be a frightened child; it is an altogether
different matter to be a frightening child. Do you want to go up to your professor after class
and say that you are confused or that you are confusing? Generally, the -ed ending means
that the noun so described ("you") has a passive relationship with something — something
(the subject matter, the presentation) has bewildered you and you are confused. The -ing
ending means that the noun described has a more active role — you are not making any
sense so you are confusing (to others, including your professor).
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The -ed ending modifiers are often accompanied by prepositions (these are not the only
choices):
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
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We were amazed at all the circus animals.
We were amused by the clowns.
We were annoyed by the elephants.
We were bored by the ringmaster.
We were confused by the noise.
We were disappointed by the motorcycle daredevils.
We were disappointed in their performance.
We were embarrassed by my brother.
We were exhausted from all the excitement.
We were excited by the lion-tamer.
We were excited about the high-wire act, too.
We were frightened by the lions.
We were introduced to the ringmaster.
We were interested in the tent.
We were irritated by the heat.
We were opposed to leaving early.
We were satisfied with the circus.
We were shocked at the level of noise under the big tent.
We were surprised by the fans' response.
We were surprised at their indifference.
We were tired of all the lights after a while.
We were worried about the traffic leaving the parking lot.
A- Adjectives
The most common of the so-called a- adjectives are ablaze, afloat, afraid, aghast, alert,
alike, alive, alone, aloof, ashamed, asleep, averse, awake, aware. These adjectives will
primarily show up as predicate adjectives (i.e., they come after a linking verb).



The children were ashamed.
The professor remained aloof.
The trees were ablaze.
Occasionally, however, you will find a- adjectives before the word they modify: the alert
patient, the aloof physician. Most of them, when found before the word they modify, are
themselves modified: the nearly awake student, the terribly alone scholar. And a- adjectives
are sometimes modified by "very much": very much afraid, very much alone, very much
ashamed, etc.
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ADVERBS
. . . . pronouns
Definition
Adverbs are words that modify



a verb (He drove slowly. — How did he drive?)
an adjective (He drove a very fast car. — How fast was his car?)
another adverb (She moved quite slowly down the aisle. — How slowly did
she move?)
As we will see, adverbs often tell when, where, why, or under what conditions
something happens or happened. Adverbs frequently end in -ly; however, many words and
phrases not ending in -ly serve an adverbial function and an -ly ending is not a guarantee
that a word is an adverb. The words lovely, lonely, motherly, friendly, neighborly, for
instance, are adjectives:

That lovely woman lives in a friendly neighborhood.
If a group of words containing a subject and verb acts as an adverb (modifying the verb of a
sentence), it is called an Adverb Clause:

When this class is over, we're going to the movies.
When a group of words not containing a subject and verb acts as an adverb, it is called
an adverbial phrase. Prepositional phrases frequently have adverbial functions (telling
place and time, modifying the verb):



He went to the movies.
She works on holidays.
They lived in Canada during the war.
And Infinitive phrases can act as adverbs (usually telling why):


She hurried to the mainland to see her brother.
The senator ran to catch the bus.
But there are other kinds of adverbial phrases:

He calls his mother as often as possible.
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Adverbs can modify adjectives, but an adjective cannot modify an adverb. Thus we
would say that "the students showed a really wonderful attitude" and that "the students
showed a wonderfully casual attitude" and that "my professor is really tall, but not "He ran
real fast."
Like adjectives, adverbs can have comparative and superlative forms to show degree.


Walk faster if you want to keep up with me.
The student who reads fastest will finish first.
We often use more and most, less and least to show degree with adverbs:




With sneakers on, she could move more quickly among the patients.
The flowers were the most beautifully arranged creations I've ever seen.
She worked less confidently after her accident.
That was the least skillfully done performance I've seen in years.
The as — as construction can be used to create adverbs that express sameness or
equality: "He can't run as fast as his sister."
A handful of adverbs have two forms, one that ends in -ly and one that doesn't. In
certain cases, the two forms have different meanings:


He arrived late.
Lately, he couldn't seem to be on time for anything.
In most cases, however, the form without the -ly ending should be reserved for casual
situations:



She certainly drives slow in that old Buick of hers.
He did wrong by her.
He spoke sharp, quick, and to the point.
Adverbs often function as intensifiers, conveying a greater or lesser emphasis to
something. Intensifiers are said to have three different functions: they can emphasize,
amplify, or downtone. Here are some examples:


Emphasizers:
o I really don't believe him.
o He literally wrecked his mother's car.
o She simply ignored me.
o They're going to be late, for sure.
Amplifiers:
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o
o
o
o
o

The teacher completely rejected her proposal.
I absolutely refuse to attend any more faculty meetings.
They heartily endorsed the new restaurant.
I so wanted to go with them.
We know this city well.
Downtoners:
o
o
o
o
o
o
I kind of like this college.
Joe sort of felt betrayed by his sister.
His mother mildly disapproved his actions.
We can improve on this to some extent.
The boss almost quit after that.
The school was all but ruined by the storm.
Adverbs (as well as adjectives) in their various degrees can be accompanied by
premodifiers:


She runs very fast.
We're going to run out of material all the faster
This issue is addressed in the section on degrees in adjectives.
For this section on intensifiers, we are indebted to A Grammar of Contemporary English by Randolph Quirk,
Sidney Greenbaum, Geoffrey Leech, and Jan Svartvik. Longman Group: London. 1978. pages 438 to 457.
Examples our own.
Using Adverbs in a Numbered List
Within the normal flow of text, it's nearly always a bad idea to number items beyond
three or four, at the most. Anything beyond that, you're better off with a vertical list that
uses numbers (1, 2, 3, etc.). Also, in such a list, don't use adverbs (with an -ly ending); use
instead the uninflected ordinal number (first, second, third, fourth, fifth, etc.). First (not
firstly), it's unclear what the adverb is modifying. Second (not secondly), it's unnecessary.
Third (not thirdly), after you get beyond "secondly," it starts to sound silly. Adverbs that
number in this manner are treated as disjuncts (see below.)
Adverbs We Can Do Without
Review the section on Being Concise for some advice on adverbs that we can
eliminate to the benefit of our prose: intensifiers such as very, extremely, and really that
don't intensify anything and expletive constructions ("There are several books that address
this issue.")
Kinds of Adverbs
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Adverbs of Manner
She moved slowly and spoke quietly.
Adverbs of Place
She has lived on the island all her life.
She still lives there now.
Adverbs of Frequency
She takes the boat to the mainland every day.
She often goes by herself.
Adverbs of Time
She tries to get back before dark.
It's starting to get dark now.
She finished her tea first.
She left early.
Adverbs of Purpose
She drives her boat slowly to avoid hitting the rocks.
She shops in several stores to get the best buys.
Positions of Adverbs
One of the hallmarks of adverbs is their ability to move around in a sentence. Adverbs
of manner are particularly flexible in this regard.



Solemnly the minister addressed her congregation.
The minister solemnly addressed her congregation.
The minister addressed her congregation solemnly.
The following adverbs of frequency appear in various points in these sentences:



Before the main verb: I never get up before nine o'clock.
Between the auxiliary verb and the main verb: I have rarely written to my
brother without a good reason.
Before the verb used to: I always used to see him at his summer home.
Indefinite adverbs of time can appear either before the verb or between the auxiliary
and the main verb:


He finally showed up for batting practice.
She has recently retired.
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Order of Adverbs
There is a basic order in which adverbs will appear when there is more than one. It is
similar to The Royal Order of Adjectives, but it is even more flexible.
THE ROYAL ORDER OF ADVERBS
Verb
Manner
Place Frequency
Time
Purpose
Beth
enthusiastically
swims
in the pool
every morning before dawnto keep in shape.
Dadimpatiently
walks
into town
every afternoon before supper
to get a newspaper.
Tashonda
naps
in her room
every morning before lunch.
In actual practice, of course, it would be highly unusual to have a string of adverbial modifiers beyond
two or three (at the most). Because the placement of adverbs is so flexible, one or two of the
modifiers would probably move to the beginning of the sentence: "Every afternoon before supper,
Dad impatiently walks into town to get a newspaper." When that happens, the introductory adverbial
modifiers are usually set off with a comma.
More Notes on Adverb Order
As a general principle, shorter adverbial phrases precede longer adverbial phrases,
regardless of content. In the following sentence, an adverb of time precedes an adverb of
frequency because it is shorter (and simpler):

Dad takes a brisk walk before breakfast every day of his life.
A second principle: among similar adverbial phrases of kind (manner, place, frequency,
etc.), the more specific adverbial phrase comes first:


My grandmother was born in a sod house on the plains of northern Nebraska.
She promised to meet him for lunch next Tuesday.
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Bringing an adverbial modifier to the beginning of the sentence can place special emphasis
on that modifier. This is particularly useful with adverbs of manner:


Slowly, ever so carefully, Jesse filled the coffee cup up to the brim, even above
the brim.
Occasionally, but only occasionally, one of these lemons will get by the
inspectors.
Inappropriate Adverb Order
Review the section on Misplaced Modifiers for some additional ideas on placement.
Modifiers can sometimes attach themselves to and thus modify words that they ought not to
modify.

They reported that Giuseppe Balle, a European rock star, had died on the six
o'clock news.
Clearly, it would be better to move the underlined modifier to a position immediately after
"they reported" or even to the beginning of the sentence — so the poor man doesn't die on
television.
Misplacement can also occur with very simple modifiers, such as only and barely:

She only grew to be four feet tall.
It would be better if "She grew to be only four feet tall."
Adjuncts, Disjuncts, and Conjuncts
Regardless of its position, an adverb is often neatly integrated into the flow of a
sentence. When this is true, as it almost always is, the adverb is called an adjunct. (Notice
the underlined adjuncts or adjunctive adverbs in the first two sentences of this paragraph.)
When the adverb does not fit into the flow of the clause, it is called a disjunct or a conjunct
and is often set off by a comma or set of commas. A disjunct frequently acts as a kind of
evaluation of the rest of the sentence. Although it usually modifies the verb, we could say
that it modifies the entire clause, too. Notice how "too" is a disjunct in the sentence
immediately before this one; that same word can also serve as an adjunct adverbial
modifier: It's too hot to play outside. Here are two more disjunctive adverbs:


Frankly, Martha, I don't give a hoot.
Fortunately, no one was hurt.
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Conjuncts, on the other hand, serve a connector function within the flow of the text,
signaling a transition between ideas.


If they start smoking those awful cigars, then I'm not staying.
We've told the landlord about this ceiling again and again, and yet he's done
nothing to fix it.
At the extreme edge of this category, we have the purely conjunctive device known as the
conjunctive adverb (often called the adverbial conjunction):


Jose has spent years preparing for this event; nevertheless, he's the most
nervous person here.
I love this school; however, I don't think I can afford the tuition.
Authority for this section: A University Grammar of English by Randolph Quirk and Sidney Greenbaum.
Longman Group: Essex, England. 1993. 126. Used with permission. Examples our own.
Some Special Cases
The adverbs enough and not enough usually take a postmodifier position:



Is that music loud enough?
These shoes are not big enough.
In a roomful of elderly people, you must remember to speak loudly enough.
(Notice, though, that when enough functions as an adjective, it can come before the noun:

Did she give us enough time?
The adverb enough is often followed by an infinitive:

She didn't run fast enough to win.
The adverb too comes before adjectives and other adverbs:


She ran too fast.
She works too quickly.
If too comes after the adverb it is probably a disjunct (meaning also) and is usually set off
with a comma:

Yasmin works hard. She works quickly, too.
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The adverb too is often followed by an infinitive:

She runs too slowly to enter this race.
Another common construction with the adverb too is too followed by a prepositional phrase
— for + the object of the preposition — followed by an infinitive:

This milk is too hot for a baby to drink.
Relative Adverbs
Adjectival clauses are sometimes introduced by what are called the relative adverbs:
where, when, and why. Although the entire clause is adjectival and will modify a noun, the
relative word itself fulfills an adverbial function (modifying a verb within its own clause).
The relative adverb where will begin a clause that modifies a noun of place:
My entire family now worships in the church where my great grandfather used to be
minister.
The relative pronoun "where" modifies the verb "used to be" (which makes it adverbial), but
the entire clause ("where my great grandfather used to be minister") modifies the word
"church."
A when clause will modify nouns of time:
My favorite month is always February, when we celebrate Valentine's Day and Presidents'
Day.
And a why clause will modify the noun reason:
Do you know the reason why Isabel isn't in class today?
We sometimes leave out the relative adverb in such clauses, and many writers prefer
"that" to "why" in a clause referring to "reason":



Do you know the reason why Isabel isn't in class today?
I always look forward to the day when we begin our summer vacation.
I know the reason that men like motorcycles.
Authority for this section: Understanding English Grammar by Martha Kolln. 4rth Edition. MacMillan Publishing
Company: New York. 1994.
Viewpoint, Focus, and Negative Adverbs
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A viewpoint adverb generally comes after a noun and is related to an adjective that
precedes that noun:


A successful athletic team is often a good team scholastically.
Investing all our money in snowmobiles was probably not a sound idea
financially.
You will sometimes hear a phrase like "scholastically speaking" or "financially speaking" in
these circumstances, but the word "speaking" is seldom necessary.
A focus adverb indicates that what is being communicated is limited to the part that is
focused; a focus adverb will tend either to limit the sense of the sentence ("He got an A just
for attending the class.") or to act as an additive ("He got an A in addition to being
published."
Although negative constructions like the words "not" and "never" are usually found
embedded within a verb string — "He has never been much help to his mother." — they are
technically not part of the verb; they are, indeed, adverbs. However, a so-called negative
adverb creates a negative meaning in a sentence without the use of the usual
no/not/neither/nor/never constructions:



He seldom visits.
She hardly eats anything since the accident.
After her long and tedious lectures, rarely was anyone awake.
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